Partners in Crime
by LuffdMoiAbsOf
Summary: Pyrrha decides to become someone else to escape her old life and enrols in Beacon as "Isabella Leon". She soon finds out she isn't the only fraud around.
1. Chapter 1

**Welp, here's my first story. Inspired by the prompt, "** ** _Pyrrha goes by a fake identity and enrols into Beacon_** **," from TheTrueOverlordBear at The Writer Games thread. This is just the short introduction that I posted on that thread, there will be more on the way soon!**

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos, or Isabella Leon she supposed, stared at her reflection in the Bullhead's window while fidgeting with the white hairband that rested in her blonde hair, vaguely aware of the hologram talking next to her. Not that she wished to disrespect the Deputy Head of Beacon, of course, but it was difficult to pay attention when she was in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

Three months ago, the international champion had moved to Vale to attend Beacon Academy. Haven would have been much more convenient, and she would have gone there if it hadn't been for the fact that she was a celebrity, especially among Huntsmen and Huntresses. The fame had its perks, but one of them was not the ability to make friends, or to be more precise, the ability to make friends who treated her _normally_.

She had assumed moving to Vale would have been good enough to escape her celebrity status. That notion had been very quickly dismissed when a fan had spotted her on the street the same day she arrived in Vale and asked her for an autograph. Thus, Pyrrha had made the decision to take more drastic measures and fake her whole identity. In retrospect, that may have been an overreaction, but it was far too late to go back on it.

 _Come on, girl,_ she reprimanded her reflection, _keep it together_. The shady bartender had assured her that the forged papers were more than good enough to fake her identity; the fact that the only form of contact Beacon had made was to inform her of the flight told her that he was probably right. The pale blonde hair she'd been wrapping around her finger further reminded her that there was no way Mr. Xiong could have known that he had been dealing with the Mistralian champion at the time since she had already given herself a makeover by that time. Oh gods, if the media had found out that The Invincible Girl had been negotiating with shady businessmen like him… they would have picked her apart like vultures.

The buzz of her scroll interrupted Pyrrha's doomed train of thought. Mildly confused, she pulled out her scroll from her skinny jeans and unlocked it. A wide smile spread across her face as she began to read the message from her fashionista friend.

 _Hey there Isababe!_

 _Heard that you newbies are arriving at Beacon today and doing initiation tomorrow. I'd be there to greet you personally, buuut we second years don't start till later in the week and I'm not going to spend any of my precious holiday at school. The clothes won't buy themselves! Anyways, don't worry about initiation. It'll be a breeze, trust me. Go get 'em girl!_

 _-Coco_

She made a mental note to thank Coco for her words of support later, and to also beg her never to use that name in public. Pyrrha- no, Isabella Leon took a deep breath and let go of all her anxiety and stress in one go. She was here at Beacon to make a new start, to find a new destiny and she wouldn't let her nerves get the best of her. As the Bullhead landed and opened its doors, Isabella took her first steps towards her dream life. A dream life which was being interrupted by the smell of vomit.

Perhaps she should take those first steps a bit more quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter 2 of Partners in Crime. Expect a new chapter every Sunday. Enjoy!**

* * *

Jaune lifted some more spaghetti into his mouth as he listened in awe to Ruby's epic tale of how she had battled the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick. He'd managed to meet up with her after the headmaster's speech and had gone to the canteen, along with the rest of the applicants, to eat the dinner graciously served by the academy.

It was amazing how someone that was two years younger than him, about as old his youngest sister, had been so strong that the headmaster himself had invited her to join Beacon. It was also somewhat terrifying since he was a fraud with no official training that now had to pretend to be a trained warrior of Ruby's calibre. _Am I really cut out for this…_

No. He had come this far and he wouldn't back out. Jaune had run away from home with the sword of his ancestors and faked his way into one of the most prestigious combat academies in Remnant for his dream of becoming a hero, just like his forefathers. He had spent far too long living in indecisiveness and he had promised himself the night he left home that he would no longer be the nervous, uncool guy with no friends and that he would do whatever it took to become a Huntsman. Jaune Arc would not, could not, question himself, or his decisions, any longer.

"And that's how I got moved ahead by two years by Headmaster Ozpin himself!" Ruby finished with a proud smile as she picked up another cookie to munch on.

Jaune smiled back. "It sounds like you completely deserve the promotion. I can't believe you actually got to see Miss Goodwitch fight though! I've only ever seen professional Huntsmen and Huntresses fight properly in videos on my scroll before and even then those were just spars rather than the real thing."

"Yeah, I guess I was pretty lucky back then. I still can't believe I didn't get her autograph though," she pouted.

"I still can't believe you had the guts to ask her for an autograph."

"She isn't as scary as she looks." Jaune paused mid-spaghetti to stare at Ruby. "Okay, maybe she is. She's still a total badass."

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Jaune turned to face the feminine voice which had asked the question - and was left dazzled by her beauty. The stunning woman who stood with a tray of food before him wore a pair of white jeans which tightly hugged her long legs and a breastplate with a pale-yellow and white colour scheme. He willed his eyes to move past her chest area to her face and his heart skipped another beat. Her face was crowned by blonde hair which matched the colour of her breastplate. A white hairband rested in her golden locks. As Jaune finally moved his eyes down to meet her sparkling emerald ones, he noticed her glancing nervously to the side. The horrifying realization that he had been staring at her for _far_ too long finally dawned on him. Oh god, she thought he was a creep, didn't she? He hadn't spoken a word and he'd already messed this up. Before he could say a word and somehow make himself look even creepier, Ruby swooped in to save the day.

"Nope, that seat is all yours. My name's Ruby, nice to meet you. What's your name?"

Jaune gulped as the angel descended to the seat next to his. "I'm Isabella. It's nice to meet you too Ruby." She smiled pleasantly at the girl and then turned to look at him. _Oh no she's looking at me. Confidence, Jaune, all you need is confidence!_ "What's your name?"

"T-The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." Jaune cringed visibly as he heard his own voice crack at the end. _Great confidence there, buddy. I bet she's real impressed._ A look of confusion passed the girl's face for a brief moment before she gave him a beautiful smile filled with warmth.

"I'm sure they do, Jaune Arc."

Yup, she was definitely laughing at him in her head. He gave Isabella a brief sideway glance. _But maybe this isn't so bad…_

* * *

Ruby was lost in a very serious conundrum as she brushed her teeth. She was ecstatic that she had made not just one, but two new friends - in a single day! By herself! She knew her dad would be so proud, not to mention Yang, even if she would tease her over her first friend at Beacon being a boy. Speaking of Yang, Ruby would have to remember to have revenge for ditching her and going to hang out with a bunch of shadowy, mysterious-looking people. Yang was lucky to have come with her friends since she hadn't been moved ahead by two years. Which is why having met Isabella and Jaune should have been a good thing for Ruby. However, she wasn't sure what to feel about Isabella.

She liked Isabella; she was fun to talk to and her weapon sounded awesome. She had said that she had gauntlets, which sounded pretty similar to Yang's, but it was too early to make comparisons. It was a shame that their weapons had to be put away in their lockers before entering the canteen. What was the point of meeting new people if you couldn't meet their weapons? Either way, Ruby had taken a liking to Isabella and wouldn't mind being put on her team once Beacon started.

The problem wasn't really Isabella. It was more about the effect she had on Jaune. Isabella was pretty, incredibly so, even by the standards of Huntsmen and Huntresses. She was probably even prettier than Yang, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that when she had sat next to Jaune, he had become even more socially awkward than Ruby had been pre-Signal. Even Crescent Rose would have been a better talker than Jaune at that point. Plus, there were the not-so-subtle glances he had been giving Isabella which he'd tried so hard to be discreet about.

It's not that she liked Jaune! Not in _that_ way at least. He was a friend, a really good one that she felt she could relate really well to. She was just worried that with Jaune head over heels for Isabella, he would start to ignore her and she'd be left with no friends. The thought made her sad.

Ruby rinsed her mouth out and let out a sigh as she made her way out of the bathroom and headed back towards the hall. It had been less than a week and she already missed her friends from Signal. She wondered if they missed her too. _Ooh, I know! I'll write them a letter! I can't wait to tell them about Beacon._

* * *

Isabella, having changed into her pyjamas, sat down on top of her sleeping bag and pulled out her scroll. She had set herself up in the corner of the room and she could hear Ruby talking quite loudly with Weiss Schnee and a couple of other girls. She decided to ignore it and reply to the message Coco had sent earlier.

 _Hiya Coco. Thanks for your message! I was a complete nervous wreck before you sent that so I really appreciate it :D._

Her reply came so fast that it would have shocked Pyrrha if she hadn't been used to it by now.

 _No probs Izzy. How was your first day? Any new friends? Spotted any interesting specimen of the male variety?_

"Izzy" rolled her eyes at Coco's ability to quickly derail any conversation into a discussion about looking good, or looking at people who look good. Despite herself, Pyrrha scanned the room anyway for anything to satisfy Coco. The older girl would have been disappointed if she didn't even bother to make an effort, after all. As her eyes roamed past the muscular boys who looked more comedic than impressive, she saw someone wearing a… onesie?

Was that Jaune?

Oh dear…

 _I'm afraid to say that the most interesting man in here is my new friend Jaune. He is currently wearing a baby blue onesie. He is a very precious child._

Pyrrha felt slightly guilty about talking about Jaune behind his back, but this was far too amusing to pass up. Plus if he felt no problem wearing it in a hall full of people, what was the problem in one more person knowing about his onesie?

 _A baby blue onesie? Oh my god I have got to see this. I'm not sure whether to call it totally uncool or totally adorable. Snap a pic for me please?_

Pyrrha grimaced as she typed out her response. As amusing as it was, she didn't want to be laughing at Jaune behind his back so much. Taking a picture of him in his somewhat embarrassing attire would be very much pushing it, even if she felt unsure about her friendship with Jaune.

When Isabella had introduced herself in the canteen, she hadn't been expecting Jaune to look at her so intently. With the way that he had been acting, it was difficult to say whether the boy recognised her as Pyrrha Nikos or not. She had been so sure of her disguise, with the only remnant of her old self being her green eyes; the constant looks Jaune had given undid that confidence. He reminded her of the fans who would be so terribly excited to meet her, and when they did they would be far too nervous to talk with her properly. The fact that he hadn't confronted her about being in disguise suggested that he didn't know a thing, but it still left her feeling uneasy. She would have to keep a close eye on him…

 _I'm afraid I can't betray my friend that much Coco. If you want to see him in all his onesieness so much, then you can meet him yourself when you come to Beacon_ _J_ _._

 _Aww you're no fun. I gtg, Velvet looks like she's about to throw up all over the bartender. Sweet dreams, Izzy._

Pyrrha sighed. It sounded like Coco had dragged Velvet out to a bar again. She still remembered the first time Coco had taken her drinking. She'd found out that she was a lightweight the hard way; in other words, she had gone blackout drunk after the first glass and had woken up the next morning in Coco's bathtub clutching onto a bottle of whiskey with a vice grip.

That was something she never wanted to experience again.

As the argument in the room reached its climax, Pyrrha found herself mildly annoyed. The Schnee heiress had been bothering Ruby for most of the day it seemed and now she was preventing everyone from getting to sleep. Pyrrha didn't want to be judgemental, but Weiss Schnee seemed very…

Well, Coco would have described her as a stuck-up bitch.

Isabella wouldn't have disagreed.

* * *

 **More background info and more developments. And Jaune is thirsty for Pyrrha. I hope you guys look forward to how Jaune and Pyrrha will interact in this fic. I haven't got the entire game plan laid out yet but I've got a general idea of where I want to take this.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Man, this week has been exhausting. School has been a nightmare and I've probably had about 10 hours sleep over the past few days. That's enough about my suffering. Hopefully you guys have had a pleasant week. One of the reviews on last week's chapter mentioned that my chapters were pretty short so far, and that I need to step up my game, and I wholeheartedly agree and appreciate the criticism. Believe it or not, it has actually taken me an obscene amount of time to write each of the chapters so far, but hopefully I'll find it easier to write more quickly as I continue this story and produce longer chapters each week. Anyways, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Isabella hummed as she made her way towards the lockers in which the students had placed their weapons yesterday. She couldn't help but notice the buzz of excitement in the air as people hanging around the lockers put on their combat gear in preparation for initiation. It would be a lie to say that she didn't feel some of that excitement as well, along with some anxiety. After all, she had been looking forward to the team selections which would happen today. Isabella had only met Coco's team CFVY once, but the time she had spent with them had made her envious of how close they all were. Coco herself had called them family and she desperately wanted to find a team like that for herself.

Back during her time at Sanctum, whilst there had been group activities, they hadn't had proper teams since it wasn't quite necessary at that level and they focused more on individual improvement. When they were required to group up, she had been quite popular, for very obvious reasons. Although she'd handled the attention quite diplomatically, it had always made her a little irritated how people had only ever been interested in her fighting skills and never took the time to get to know her _as a person_ , rather than the Invincible Girl.

 _Well, I'm going to make sure that the same situation doesn't happen at Beacon,_ she thought to herself as she found her locker and opened it. _Isabella Leon shall be a normal girl who won't stand out. I will make sure of it._ She put an assured smile on her face as she reached in to grab her gauntlets. She would do her best to find a wonderful team. Perhaps she should try to pair up with Ruby…

Isabella closed her locker door and almost shrieked in surprise. "Ah, erm, hello Jaune. How are you today…?" Her voice trailed off as Jaune stared at her with an unusually confident smirk while leaning against the locker.

"Hey there, gorgeous. I'm great, actually. You know what else is great? Your face- I mean, uh, you- no wait, your hair. Yeah, your hair looks great."

Isabella was speechless. She tried to say something but nothing came out, so instead she stared at him with her mouth half-open. _Gorgeous…? Hair? What?_ Was this really the same timid Jaune Arc she had spoken to yesterday? What on earth was he talking about? _Oh, surely not…_

"Jaune, you don't need to flatter me so much to ask if I want to be your team. I guess you must be nervous about the team selection too."

It looked like he wanted to be her partner, and her paranoia thought of only one reason: the fact that she was Pyrrha Nikos, and he had recognised her as a fan. _There was no way that could happen,_ her mind reasoned, _I look completely different now, even if he was a huge fan there is no way he could recognise me, especially with Coco using me as her fashion project._ Her reasoning did little to calm her down. She couldn't exactly ask him if he knew, since if he didn't know then she would just be giving up her secret for no reason. If he _did_ know, then that was terrible. If he exposed her then she would probably be charged with some crime and if the media found out, she would be crucified. _Maybe it would really be safer if I was on the same team as him._ In the event that he did know, then she could perhaps be in more control of what the consequences would be if she was his teammate.

"Team selection? Oh, yeah, I guess I'm really worried about that," Jaune laughed nervously. "I guess I just want to be in a team with you since, you know, we've already met and stuff."

"Well, Jaune, I wouldn't be averse to that at all. I believe we could work together quite well," Isabella smiled politely. Jaune beamed back.

"I think so too. Maybe we could even have Ruby on our team as well. Oh, there she is. Hey Ruby!" Jaune waved her over.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Ruby strolled over with the blonde girl Isabella had seen last night.

"Good morning Ruby. Who's your friend here?" Isabella asked.

"Hey there. I'm Ruby's sister, Yang Xiao Long, pleasure to meet you. You must be Isabella Leon, right? My sister told me all about you and Vomit Boy and how she'd made two awesome new friends already."

"Yaaang, stop embarrassing me," Ruby whined.

"Yeah Yang, you're embarrassing us. Stop calling me Vomit Boy," Jaune grumbled.

Yang slung an arm around Ruby and grinned. "Sorry, _Vomit Man_ , I'll remember to get it right next time. Anyways, I hope you two will be good to my little sis. She can be a little shy sometimes."

Isabella spoke, "Don't worry about it Yang, we'll take care of her. Also, I think she might be drooling on your hand." She nodded towards the girl under Yang's arm that had been staring intently at the gauntlets in Isabella's hands. Yang recoiled away and wiped her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Oh. My. GOD! Your gauntlets look so cool! Those pretty patterns! What does it do, what does it do? I have to know!" Ruby appeared before her and chirped about excitedly.

"Well, I guess I can just show you." Isabella pulled a gauntlet onto her right forearm and activated a mechanism, causing the gauntlet to extend out to cover her hand and reach her elbow. "I call these Tóxo and Vélos." She had used the same naming style as the one used for her true weapons, Miló and Akoúo̱, to serve as a reminder of the weapons that had helped her be victorious so many times in the past. "Its main weapon form is actually a sword."

"A sword?" Ruby asked, confused. "I don't see a sword?"

Isabella smiled and triggered the mechanism for her gauntlet to transform, causing a long blade to extend out from the part of the gauntlet which covered the top half of her forearm.

"Woah," Ruby's eyes sparkled. "That's so cool! It's also a gun, right?"

"Yes, Ruby, it's also a gun."

"Well, while your Tóxo and Vélos _is_ a strong contender for coolest weapon ever, I think my baby still takes the cake." With that, Ruby pulled out a red rifle and expanded it in one swift motion, almost slicing the lockers behind her in half.

"Here's my baby, Crescent Rose. It's a scythe, _and_ a customisable high-impact sniper rifle. Isn't she beautiful?"

Before Isabella could respond, she saw Weiss Schnee storm over towards the group. "Ruby Rose, you absolute moron, what on earth are you doing waving around your scythe inside the locker room? Have you gone insane? Once again, you are being a menace to everyone around you. Do you even know how dangerous scythes are? Why isn't that blonde brute doing anything to stop you?"

"Me?" Jaune and Isabella asked.

"No, of course not, you _dolts_. I'm talking about her," Weiss said, pointing at Yang.

"Me? Listen here, ice queen. You really need to stop bothering me and my sister all the time. No one is asking you to butt in, so get lost."

"Well, maybe if you did a good job at keeping your sister in line, I wouldn't have to butt in all the time."

Yang's eyes flashed red. "What was that you little bi-"

"Uh, guys?" Jaune interrupted.

"What?" both Weiss and Yang glared at Jaune, making him cower before them.

"I, uh, think we're going to be late," he said, pointing at the clock on the other side of the room. Everybody turned to look at the clock and promptly started running towards the cliffs. Isabella let out an exasperated sigh. She really hoped that they would be allowed to choose their own teams. _Today looks like it's going to be… eventful._

* * *

Jaune panted as the students lined up on the plates. That had been too close. The teachers would have thought he was incompetent if he showed up late for the initiation. His eyes wandered to the girl to his right, who looked far less tired than he felt. He had spent last night building up the courage to flirt with Isabella, practicing routines in his head, having dreams of being successful and having a beautiful girlfriend.

But she'd just dismissed it easily as an attempt to persuade her to be on his team. His sisters would have laughed if they had seen his pathetic performance with her. _It doesn't matter Jaune. All you need is confidence!_ He would try again, and Isabella would be impressed and totally agree to go out with him. He just needed to look cool in front of her.

And now he had the perfect opportunity! Isabella was standing on the very last plate next to him. He would use this initiation to show her why he was the right man for her.

Headmaster Ozpin began explaining the rules of the initiation. It seemed pretty ridiculous in all honesty. He had explained why it was important to be paired with someone they would get along with, and then said that they'd be paired with the first person they made eye contact with after landing. Where was the logic in that?

Wait.

Landing?

"Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, uh, sir-"

"Good. Take your positions."

Jaune would have continued asking what on earth this landing strategy was, were it not for him noticing Isabella out the corner of his eye. If he looked like he didn't know what he was doing, she would probably see him as a failure. He watched the people to his left be flung into the sky at dangerous speeds, gulping as the time for his own demise approached.

"Jaune, are you okay? You do have a landing strategy, right?" Isabella suddenly asked, causing his heart to freeze for just a moment.

"Yeah, of course I have a landing strategy. Do _you_ have a landing stra-arggghhhh!" Jaune almost bit his own tongue off as he was launched in the middle of his sentence. The wind blasted his eyes as his body spun in the air, the blood rushing to his head. Oh god, this was how he would die, wasn't it? He'd expected to be tested in combat, not to be thrown off a cliff. He could see the headlines mocking him now: ' _Fraudulent fool falls to his foolish fate"_. Damn it, damn it all.

Something grabbed his hoodie.

* * *

Isabella watched Jaune get launched into the sky with concern. He didn't look like he had a landing strategy at all. Surely he had been trained properly, right? As she flew off the cliff, she watched him begin to descend from the peak of his flight with the elegance of a ragdoll. Even if he didn't land correctly, his aura would probably protect him, but he could still get injured. If he was incapacitated and was found by a Beowolf before anyone else could…

She gritted her teeth and pulled off her right gauntlet after transforming it into its sword form. It wasn't as good as Miló in its javelin form, but it would have to do. She held out her left arm and lined up the gauntlet as she approached the peak of her flight, and threw it as hard as she could downwards in Jaune's direction, activating her semblance to direct her weapon towards the hood on his hoodie. As she saw the blade snag his hoodie, she breathed a sigh of relief before realising that she was plummeting towards the ground herself. Isabella furrowed her brows as she concentrated on memorising the direction that Jaune was headed in.

She activated the blade on her left gauntlet and prepared to land.

* * *

Jaune couldn't believe it. He had somehow managed to survive the fall. He opened his eyes which had been clenched shut in fear. Jaune looked down to check that he hadn't wet himself and noticed that he was still a few metres in the air. _Huh, that's strange._

He looked up and to his left and saw a familiar yellow and white gauntlet sticking out from his hoodie. It dawned on him that Isabella had pinned him to a tree to save him. A smile he couldn't contain spread across his face. His imagination saw Isabella as an angel of love that had pierced his heart with her love arrow, except it was his hoodie that had been pierced with her blade. But those silly little details didn't matter.

He had to find her first, no matter what.

Jaune reached up and pulled out Isabella's weapon with relative ease, and promptly fell from the tree, landing on his butt with a yelp of pain. He heard footsteps approaching him. _It must be Isabella. No, wait! What if it isn't and I end up having to be with some random dude?_ Jaune shut his eyes and waited in anticipation.

"What are _you_ doing here? Why are you just sitting there with your eyes shut? Are you taking a nap in the middle of a forest?"

Well, at least it wasn't a random dude, but it certainly wasn't Isabella.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, so you are awake. If you bothered to open your eyes, you would know that I'm Weiss Schnee."

Jaune forced his eyes to close even more, if it were even possible. "Well, it's a shame that my eyelids seem to be stuck. Sorry Weiss, but it looks like I can't make eye contact just anybody."

"You… Hmph. Whatever. I already have a partner. Good luck succeeding without someone like me, you doofus." Jaune smiled to himself as she walked away. That would teach her to call Isabella a dolt. _Crap! I forgot to ask her to help me deactivate Isabella's sword-gauntlet thing._

"Jaune?"

Once again, he shut his eyes and turned his head in the direction of the voice. "Who is it this time?"

"It's me, Isabella."

"Oh yeah? Prove it," he said challengingly. He wouldn't be fooled by that Weiss Schnee, even if she did do an amazing Isabella impersonation. It was obvious that Weiss secretly wanted to be on his team with the way she had been calling him cute and stuff yesterday. He would not allow himself to be tempted by her evil scheme.

"Prove it…?" The girl deepened her voice and said, in the goofiest manner possible, "Hey there gorgeous. Your hair looks great."

Jaune felt heat rush to his cheeks as he opened his eyes and saw Isabella giggling at his embarrassed expression. "Please don't bring that up again," he groaned, accepting the hand she offered him to get up.

"As you wish, partner. Before we go get the relics, can I have my gauntlet back please?" she asked.

"Sure. I couldn't figure how to- ow!" Jaune exclaimed as he cut his finger on the sharp edge of the blade.

"Oh my god, Jaune, are you okay? I'm so sorry about that." Isabella rushed to take her gauntlet back and examine his finger. Despite the blood, it didn't actually hurt too much, but with Isabella holding his finger, he was tempted to exaggerate the pain.

He laughed it off instead, "Don't worry about it, I was clumsy. That was my bad."

"Why didn't you activate your aura?"

"Huh?"

"Your aura. It should have protected you from it. You do know what aura is, right?"

"Yeah, pfft, of course. Who doesn't?"

"Of course you know what aura is. Just like you knew what a landing strategy was," Isabella said, with an eyebrow raised.

Jaune couldn't respond to that. He instead opted to look at the ground glumly. "Yeah, I guess I can't make any excuses about that. Thanks for the save, by the way."

"It was no problem at all Jaune," she smiled warmly, as she pulled on her right gauntlet and deactivated both gauntlets fully, so that they only covered her forearms. "But if we're going to make progress, I'm going to need to bring you up to speed on aura."

Isabella began explaining the concept of aura, which brought back vague memories of guides he had found on the CCTS to be a better Huntsman. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what she was describing, partly because he was really interested, but also because looking directly at her felt too awkward.

"It's like a force field!" he announced, as a light bulb lit up inside his head.

"Yes, Jaune, it's like a force field." She turned and looked at him. He swallowed as she walked closer to him and put the palm of her hand on his cheek. With her so close, staring into his eyes, he felt intoxicated by her scent. She smelled… like vanilla. Or was it peachy? It didn't matter; she smelled nice, and that was enough for his teenage hormones to kick in.

"I'm going to activate your aura for you, so I'm going to need you to close your eyes."

Close his eyes? Activate his aura? Jaune gulped as his mind raced through the possibilities of what aura activation entailed. Was it just holding hands or was there more involved? Would his first kiss be taken right here, in the middle of a forest, by this extraordinarily beautiful girl who was currently touching his cheek? No amount of sappy rom-com movies had prepared him for this moment. His heart pounded in his chest as he closed his eyes and felt his body heat up. He prepared for his lips to be given to most intense sensation he would ever experience.

Isabella began to incant something, rather than kiss him, much to his relief and disappointment. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Jaune opened his eyes and saw a faint glow about him, but the fact that Isabella was clutching his shoulder for support caught his attention instead. "Are you okay, Isabella?"

She looked up and smiled. "I'm fine. It's normal to feel a little tired after unlocking someone's aura. Your aura seems to be surprisingly large."

 _That's not the only thing that's surprisingly lar- damn it brain, not now._ Jaune shook his head as he tried to push out the dirty thoughts. "Will you be okay?" he asked, concerned.

Isabella took a deep breath and stood a little straighter. "I will, Jaune, there's no need to be worried about me. We should probably hurry up though. The others should be on their way to the temple already."

With that, Isabella turned and headed north, and Jaune hid an excited smile as he followed.

 _True love: 1, Weiss Schnee: 0._

* * *

Isabella turned her head and glanced briefly at the bridge- or what was left of it- before her eyes settled back on the Deathstalker before them. They had been cornered into a bad position, with the Deathstalker blocking the way back to safe ground, and their positioning was about to get much worse considering that the Grimm was currently dislodging the bridge with its tail.

"We gotta move," Jaune said, not that any of them needed to be told. As they began to dash towards the Grimm, Isabella took the lead and went in for the first strike. If Jaune was as inexperienced as he seemed to be, then she would need to do what she could to compensate for him, just for now. She hoped this wouldn't be a recurring theme, since it would mean that she would have to fight better than she really wanted to.

As she ran into the Deathstalker's range, she prepared herself to slash at it until she saw the Grimm slowly lift its right claw to swing at her. She could see it coming a mile away, and lifted her own left arm to deflect the attack.

That was a mistake.

Isabella was knocked back as she was overwhelmed by the Deathstalker's force. She had thought she'd be able to handle it with her gauntlet, but however tough it was, it clearly wasn't as good as a shield. _Damn it, if only I was using_ _Akoúo̱_. She cursed herself for her carelessness.

"Isabella!" Jaune stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. He grit his teeth and turned back to face the Deathstalker. "Get away from her you monster!" he screamed at the Grimm in anger, using his shield to deflect its left claw and then his sword to strike it. It left him unprepared for its right claw.

"Watch out!" Isabella surged forward and pulled Jaune back by his hood. The claw narrowly missed his head as she pulled them both back out of the creature's range. "Jaune, you can't be as reckless as I was. We have to work together or we'll be taken out one by one," she explained.

Jaune's face was still screwed up in anger, but he took a deep breath and stood up, pulling her up by the hand. "You're right. I'm sorry. I was just worried that you got hurt."

His concern for her well-being made her smile. "It's fine. This time, we'll attack at the same time. I need you to cover for me with your shield, okay?"

"I got it." They both turned to look at the enemy and saw Ren shooting at the glowing part of tail, having taken advantage of the distraction the pair of them had caused. His attack didn't last long as the Grimm swung its tail and flung Ren back towards the grass.

"We need to go for the glowy bit. Can you reach it?" Jaune asked as they began to dart towards the Deathstalker, with Nora providing covering fire.

"I can, but I'll need a boost. Left side!" Isabella called out as the Grimm swung its claw at them. Jaune held his shield up, blocking the attack successfully. She grabbed the back of his jumper and spun them both around such that Jaune faced the other side of the Grimm from where the next attack was coming from. She took advantage of the claw that had just been blocked by Jaune by jumping on it, and then leaping up to cut off the end of the Deathstalker's tail. She landed past the Grimm and on the grass behind it.

"Nora, now!" Jaune called from the other side. Isabella swallowed as she waited, unable to see what was going on. A few seconds later she saw the cheerful girl soar into the air before gracefully slamming down on the Deathstalker, tilting the entirety of the bridge and flinging Jaune over towards her. Her reaction time was the only thing that saved her from a collision with the blonde projectile. She rolled out of the way safely, although the same couldn't be said about the way Jaune had landed.

"Ughhh," he groaned as he stood up. He pouted at her. "Why did you move?"

"What? Why wouldn't I move out of your way?"

"Because I… uh, forget about it." Jaune shook his head and turned towards Ren and Nora. "Is Ren okay?"

Nora had pulled a half-conscious Ren into her lap and was sitting with a wide grin on her face. "Renny's fine, he'll be all better once Nurse Nora takes care of him." Ren groaned unconvincingly.

"…Right. Anyway, where did that huge bird go?" Jaune looked around.

Isabella pointed towards the cliff Ruby had just run up vertically with the Nevermore in tow. "It's over there with the other four," she informed. Jaune turned just in time to see Ruby decapitate the oversized bird. His mouth fell open in awe as the Grimm's body fell from the top, where Ruby was stood with a trail of rose petals behind her. "Woah…" She could admit that it was quite a spectacle too.

"Come on, you two. We have to catch up with the others or we'll be left behind," Nora said as she lifted Ren onto her back. As they followed her, Isabella turned to look at Jaune and said, "Jaune, I think you did great in that battle. I'll be looking forward to working with you."

He looked ecstatic from the praise, and she couldn't help but smile at how easy it was to make him happy. Jaune replied, "I can't wait to be with you- I mean, work with you too."

* * *

Pyrrha smiled as she looked at her new team. It was a strange one, for sure, but it held promise, and it didn't have any unsavoury characters as far as she could tell. The battle against the Nevermore and the Deathstalker had been more difficult than she had ever expected from the initiation process, but her team along with the four girls in Ruby's team had managed to pull through. It had been close, though, and Pyrrha was glad she had spent some time training by herself in the Forever Fall forest to get used to her weapons.

She moved onto the stage with the others as team RWBY's name was announced. Ruby had been made leader, and Pyrrha wouldn't have disagreed with the headmaster's decision. Ruby had come up with a creative strategy in their fight against the Nevermore, and she could see her potential from a mile away. Even Weiss Schnee had gone along with the strategy, which Pyrrha wouldn't have expected from the prideful girl. She prayed for Ruby's sake that her sister and Weiss wouldn't strangle each other to death.

She walked forward onto the stage as RWBY came off, sending Ruby a quick smile to congratulate her.

"Isabella Leon, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren and Jaune Arc. You four retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team IVRJ - Ivory, led by Isabella Leon."

 _What? Why me? I didn't do anything in the fight earlier; I shouldn't be the one leading._ _Why not Ren, or Jaune, or even Nora?_ Okay, maybe not Nora. Isabella didn't trust her decision-making skills after listening to her be melancholic about the "pet" Ursa she had lost in the Emerald Forest. She still felt like she didn't deserve to be a leader, nor did she want to be one. It only drew attention to her, which was the last thing she wanted.

Her teammates didn't seem to notice her inner turmoil and congratulated her instead. Jaune clapped a hand on her shoulder and said, "You're going to be a great leader, I just know it."

"Woo! Go Isabelly!" cheered Nora. Pyrrha felt her eyebrow twitch at her new nickname. Ren simply nodded in approval from behind Nora.

The headmaster finished the speech with the words, "It looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year."

Isabella smiled awkwardly at her new friends. Interesting indeed…

* * *

The girl who had been watching the welcoming ceremony from the entrance pushed off the door frame and turned away with a smile on her face. She pushed her sunglasses up and pulled out her scroll as she walked towards the dorms. She typed out one simple message on it.

 _Welcome to Beacon, Izzy._

* * *

 **Fun fact: one of names I had originally planned to use for Izzy's team was team RAIN(bow), led by Ren. Anyways, I've only checked through this once and wouldn't be surprised if there were a ton of errors in here. I will look through it much more carefully tomorrow and make any necessary updates. But first, I need my sleep. Good night :)**

 **Edit: Fixed a few errors. One of them was "Are they questions?" instead of "Are there any questions?" from Ozpin. How embarrassing.**

 **Edit 2: Decided to add the battle with the Deathstalker.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alrighty, new chapter. Before you read this chapter, I'd like to mention that I have edited chapter 3 and added the battle with the Deathstalker. I'd assumed that it would have been enough to refer to the battle as I imagined it in the past tense through the characters, but as I was writing this chapter I realised that it was unreasonable to expect the reader to infer what had happened. So yeah, thank you to the reviewer who pointed out that I should have added the battle last week. Anyways, here is chapter 4 of Partners in Crime. Enjoy!**

* * *

Isabella sighed as she sat down on her bed, worn out from initiation. Nora had gone into the shower first, and she was surprised that the girl hadn't tried to drag Ren into the shower as well. The boy in question was sitting on his bed looking through his and Nora's belongings, presumably looking for his night clothes. Her own partner was currently taking off pieces of armour while looking at her nervously.

She sighed and asked, "What is it, Jaune?" It caught him off guard and he stammered while looking around nervously.

"E-er, nothing, haha, I'm not nervous or anything," he laughed.

"Then why are you looking at me like I'm a Deathstalker or something?"

"O-oh, I, uh, I don't know if I should say…"

"Just spit it out, Jaune."

"Well, erm, I don't know how I feel about, y'know, you watching me take off my armour. I feel naked."

Pyrrha stared at him with her mouth open, with a small blush creeping onto her face. Even Ren paused to turn and give Jaune a strange look.

"Okay, you know what? Forget about it. I didn't say anything." With that, Jaune straightened himself and took off his armour with sudden confidence. Once she saw what was underneath Jaune's breastplate, it was her turn to start stammering.

"J-J-Jaune…?"

"Yes?"

Isabella's hand shook as she pointed at the terrifying animal that stared back at her from the hoodie. "W-W-What's that?"

"This? Oh, it's my Pumpkin Pete limited edition hoodie. Is there something wrong with it?"

Something wrong? _Everything_ was wrong with it. It all made so much sense. Jaune wanting to be her partner, him acting like her recognised her and now wearing the hoodie from the cereal company she had modelled for? Alarms blared in her head as she realised that this was way too much to be a coincidence.

But… he looked confused. If he _did_ know who she was, then surely he would understand why she was panicking, right? But there was no sign of that, no sign of any cheekiness or ulterior motive. Jaune was too innocent to be able to deceive her anyway. Either way, she had to confirm once and for all what exactly Jaune knew about her. She made to ask him a question but hesitated when her eyes fell to Ren.

"Jaune, could you perhaps come over here? I need to ask you something private."

"Private? Er, yeah, sure, I guess." Jaune walked over to her side of the room and sat on Nora's bed, which was next to her own.

"Jaune, do you know who-" Isabella paused to word her question carefully. "Do you know who the person that models for that cereal is?"

"Hmmmm," Jaune hummed as he thought about the question. "It's some girl with red hair, I think? I can't remember her name though. Something like Pierre?"

"It's Pyrrha Nikos."

"Yeah, that's it! Why are you asking though? Do you know her or something?"

"I suppose you could say that…" Isabella closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she looked him in the eye and asked, "Jaune, do you think I look like Pyrrha Nikos?" She watched him carefully with bated breath for any sign of a lie as he responded.

"No way. You look way more beautiful than plain old Pyrrha Nikos."

She breathed a sigh of relief as she took his answer in. Not too long afterwards, she began to giggle, which then broke out into fits of laughter as the irony of what he had just said hit her.

"What are you laughing about? I wasn't joking about what I said."

She tried to respond- she really did- but she couldn't hold back her laughter as she fell back on the bed, holding her sides. After a minute or so, when she could bring herself to at least speak, she said, "I know you weren't joking, Jaune," she giggled. _That's just what makes this even more amusing._

At that moment Nora burst out of the bathroom dressed in her night clothes with a towel wrapped around her head. "I'm done! I've checked every nook and cranny for spy cameras, so it should be a-okay to take your shower." She stood proudly in the centre of the room with hands on her hips.

"Thank you, Nora. I'll take my shower now, if it's alright with you two?" Isabella looked to the two males in the room as she reined in her giggles. They both nodded, and she accepted the opportunity to finally get rid of the smell of sweat on her graciously.

Once she locked the door, she turned to look at herself in the mirror.

' _You look way more beautiful than plain old Pyrrha Nikos._ '

She burst into laughter again.

* * *

Jaune Arc looked out over the horizon, his long coat swaying in the wind as he pulled out his sword from the dragon he had slain with one powerful strike. He turned to face his girlfriend, Isabella, who had been held captive by the evil beast. She wore a beautiful wedding that complemented her skin tone well. His angel ran into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Jaune!"

"I'm here, babe. There's no need to worry."

"Jaune!"

"I won't go anywhere. I promise."

"Jaune, wake up!"

"Argh!" Jaune lurched forwards and fell back onto his bed just as quickly as he smashed his head into Isabella's.

"Owww," they both clutched their heads as they recoiled from the pain. His girlf-, no, Isabella recovered first.

"Jaune, we're going to be late for class if you don't get up. We've got fifteen minutes to get to class."

"Crap!" Jaune jumped out of bed and hit the ground as he tripped over his feet. He recovered quickly and dashed to the bathroom, uniform in hand, to get changed.

"I'll be waiting outside the room with the others, okay?" Isabella called from outside.

"Alright lo-leader," he called back. Jaune sighed as he washed his face, forcing himself out of the fantasy-like dream he'd had. It was a nice dream, but the way things were going, it looked like that was all it would ever be. He grimaced and changed into his school uniform, almost choking himself with his tie in the process as he rushed to get ready before he made his team late. He didn't want to let them down or be a burden to them. Jaune was somewhat relieved that the Headmaster hadn't chosen him to be leader of team IVRJ, since he wasn't sure he would have been any good at it, especially since he was the least experienced out of everybody. He was also partially disappointed, though, since he had half-hoped to become a leader that people would look up to. He was still really happy for Isabella though, even if she didn't seem as happy as he thought she'd be with being leader.

Jaune exited the bathroom and put on his shoes before leaving the room. Just like Isabella had said, they were waiting for him. Nora was chatting about pancakes or something, but his attention was caught by Isabella's attire. He hadn't had a chance to notice earlier, but… Isabella looked _good_ in a school uniform.

"Hey Jauney!" Nora greeted him in her cheerful voice. Ren nodded to him.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. How long do we have left?" he asked Isabella

"FIVE MINUTES?!" The voice hadn't come from his leader, but the room opposite theirs instead. The door burst open and team RWBY pushed past them, sprinting down the corridor. They looked at each other.

They ran.

* * *

Headmaster Ozpin looked solemnly down at his empty cup as he strolled back to his office. He had run out of coffee soon after his little chat with Miss Rose, and he desperately craved more. His thoughts drifted to the heavenly brew which awaited him, but his attention snapped back to his surroundings as he heard footsteps approaching. Ozpin sighed and concealed his frown as he turned to face the student who had approached him.

"Good afternoon, Miss Leon. Did you wish to speak to me?" The huntress-in-training looked up at him and nodded slowly.

"Good afternoon, sir. I wanted to speak to you about your decision to make me leader."

"I see. You aren't the first I've had to talk with today about the subject. Miss Rose was having doubts as well."

"A-actually, I knew that already."

"Oh?"

"I overheard your conversation, but only the last bit. I didn't want to interrupt. Anyway, I wanted to know why I was made leader, and if it could be changed? It's not that I don't believe in my ability, like Ruby did, but I simply don't wish to be the leader. I feel that it would be better if someone else were to be made leader."

Ozpin made to sip his coffee as he thought about how to answer the questions, but grimaced when he found that there was none. He thought back to what he had observed at the Emerald Forest yesterday as he tried to think of a valid reason for Miss Leon's appointment as leader. After all, it wasn't as if he could say that she had been chosen as a result of the colour rules - although he had kicked himself when he'd realised that he had missed out on a prime opportunity to have Team Rainbow.

"To answer your second question, Miss Leon, I'm afraid not. The decisions have already been made and they cannot be reverted. In response to your first question…I simply believe that you are the one best suited to be leader. Your teammate Miss Valkyrie and her partner have great synergy, and I believe that is due to the fact that they were friends before entering Beacon Academy. However, I can see that if either of them were made leader, Mr Arc and yourself would struggle to keep up with their fluid teamwork. Mr Arc admires you, and he listens to what you say very carefully. I believe he has great potential, but he needs a push, an example to follow. I think that you can set that example and bring the best out of him, and your other teammates, by being their leader. It is a grave responsibility, Miss Leon, and I expect great things from you."

The girl nodded glumly as she looked at the ground with a slight frown. "I understand, Headmaster. I apologise for wasting your time."

"Not at all, Miss Leon. It is my duty as Headmaster to ensure the welfare of my students. If you ever wish to have another chat, you know where my office is. It might be best for you to run along to the canteen now, before lunch ends. Have a nice day, Miss Leon."

"You too, sir. Thank you." Ozpin watched as the girl turned and walked away briskly. He hoped that he had solved that problem, or that the problem would sort itself out. He sighed and looked around to make sure no one was watching. The Headmaster began to sprint towards his office.

He was very desperate for some coffee, and things would be terribly unfortunate for the person that dared stop him now.

* * *

Isabella sighed for what must have been the fifth time since her conversation with the Headmaster as she pushed her spoon around in her yoghurt. She had hoped that things might have gone differently, but it seemed that his words were final and she had to be the leader of her team. It was hard to fault his reasoning as well. It was true that Jaune paid far too much attention to her; then again, she didn't buy the reasoning for not making Ren the leader. However, with how quiet the boy tended to be, she assumed he would be just as reluctant to lead as herself.

"Isabelly, what's wrong? You look all sad."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. Also, do you think you could maybe refrain from calling me 'Isabelly'? That kind of nickname is kind of embarrassing."

"Sure thing, _Isabelly,_ " Nora grinned.

Ren spoke up, "You may as well give up. I tried to stop her calling me Renny and she tried to hypnotise me into believing that was my real name."

"Sounds rough," Isabella patted Ren's shoulder in sympathy.

"I think Isabelly is a cute name," Jaune interjected. Nora gave him a thumbs-up as Isabella shook her head in disappointment.

"Jaune Arc, you traitor. I thought I could trust you." Isabella frowned in mock anger. She couldn't stop it from turning into a smile as her team laughed.

"Well, what do you want us to call you? I can't think of anything else…" Jaune trailed off as he stared at whatever was behind her. She began to turn to see what it was, but froze as a pair of arms slithered around her shoulders and she heard a familiar voice next to her ear.

"Hey there, Isababe. How's it going?"

Isabella let out a sigh of relief as she realised it was her friend. She turned in her seat to face the girl that had caught her by surprise.

"Hey Coco, glad to see you're doing as well as ever."

"It's good to see you too. Are you going to introduce me to your new friends or what?" Coco placed a hand on her hip and adjusted her sunglasses. It was fairly ridiculous that she wore those even in her school uniform, but her ever-present shades were something Isabella had gotten used to.

"This is Ren, that's Nora, and he's my partner, Jaune." She gestured to each of them as she said their names, and they each greeted Coco. When she got to Jaune, she noticed that he was scribbling something down in a notepad. …Was that a list of nicknames? Isabella's eye twitched. She would have to find that and incinerate it later.

"Team Ivory, this is my friend Coco. She's a second year here at Beacon."

Coco smiled and nodded at each of them. When her eyes met Jaune's, however, she locked onto him and pulled her sunglasses down to examine him. Isabella smiled as she saw Jaune gulp. It reminded her of the first time she had met Coco, and how nervous she had felt when Coco gave her the look of judgement.

"So, kiddo, you must be the Onesie Wonder. I've heard a lot of good things about you from Izzy."

"Huh?" Poor Jaune looked confused and she decided it was her responsibility to save him.

"Coco, I'd appreciate it if you didn't start teasing my partner so soon. He isn't used to your ways yet."

Coco chuckled, "I'm just screwing around Izzy. Don't fret. I guess I'll hold off for now, just for you." The brunette slung an arm around Isabella and sat down next to her. "So, how was initiation? What did that old geezer make you do this year?"

"You mean Headmaster Ozpin?" Nora spoke up. "He catapulted us into the forest and made us look for some chess pieces."

"Ah, the classic launch-a-bunch-of-kids-into-a-forest-full-of-Grimm treatment. We had that as well, except we had to collect Grimm plushies that were hidden in trees."

"That sounds way harder than ours. Climbing trees while fighting Grimm sounds dangerous," said Jaune.

"I wouldn't know about that. I doubt the second years had to fight a giant Nevermore and a Deathstalker," Ren pointed out.

"Wait, wait, you guys fought a Deathstalker and a Nevermore?" Coco whistled. "Damn. I'm impressed Izzy. Looks like you got yourself a pretty strong team."

Pyrrha smiled proudly at her team. It was rare for Coco to hand out compliments. It was pretty much against her policy to hand out any false praise.

Jaune blushed and said, "W-well, we didn't actually take them both down. We only took down the Deathstalker. It was actually Ruby and her team that took out the Nevermore."

Coco sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Listen, kid. When you receive a compliment, just be happy and accept it. There's no reason to pretend to be humble when you look so proud of yourself."

Jaune smiled sheepishly and looked away. "Yes ma'am."

Coco's grin grew almost sinister as she heard him refer to her as "ma'am". Pyrrha shook her head as she realised that that would go straight to her head. _Oh well. As long as she doesn't expect me to call her that as well, it doesn't matter what Jaune chooses to call her._

"Heh, ma'am? I think I'm beginning to like you, kiddo. Keep up the good work and I might consider rewarding you." She grinned devilishly.

"R-reward?" Jaune asked nervously.

"Anyways," Coco stood up, ignoring Jaune's question. "I've had fun but it looks like I'm out of time. I've got a lesson with that round windbag now. How about you guys?"

"We've got a free day for the rest of today, so I suppose we'll be doing whatever we feel like," Isabella answered.

"Lucky you. I think I'll introduce my team to you guys tomorrow or something. See you around, folks," Coco waved goodbye and walked towards the exit stylishly, lightly swaying her hips. That was so typical of Coco. Isabella smiled and turned around to face her team, only for her smile to falter as she saw their devious grins.

"How's it going, _Isababe_?"

Her head fell into her hands as she groaned.

 _Damn it, Coco._

* * *

 **Darn you Coco, how dare you be so lovable. Team Ivory has finally been introduced to their senpai, and I'm kinda excited to write more interactions between CFVY and IVRJ. I haven't seen many fics centred around CFVY (then again, I haven't explored much of the fanfics available) and the show neglects to give the screentime CFVY deserves, so I hope to make them interesting and flesh them out properly. Also, if you guys want to have an idea of what Pyrrha's new weapon might look like, look up "pata sword" and "Edward Elric sword". I hope that gives an impression of what it might look like. Have a nice week!**


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